Entreprenuers and Marketing Part II – The Customer Journey

Recently I wrote about the start up part of a business as Part I – if you want to go back to it here is the link.
https://www.geekymarketer.com/wp-admin/upload.php
So let’s look at the next step in your plan. The customer Journey.

All you have to do is google customer journey map and you will find a wide variety of options to make your own map. It depends on what you are looking for and your industry.

Personally I have made very complicated maps (for a print-on-demand book site – when my boss wanted to dip his toe into the POD book market like Lulu. I can’t blame him for wanting to try. It is a huge industry but the time to get in was long ago. But we went through the process. The journey map was all about the website and how from becoming a customer to the book(s) being shipped out – what that process looked like.

Recently I helped someone with their journey map for their non-profit women’s shelter. This looked very different as we had to look at how the person found the non-profit to what they would be going through over their time inside of the women’s shelter and beyond. It was kind of a wake-up session for the shelter as they had never put this down on paper to realize they had so many touch points with clients from beginning to end. Additionally they decided to create a second journey map for those that left the shelter and we now out on their own – for follow up and additional services.

Create that journey map for your potential customers / clients to better understand their journey with your business.

#marketing #customerjourneymap #entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs and Marketing

I just taught a entrepreneurship class at WCC with a bunch of great students with a ton of excellent business concepts, however the marketing aspect was completely foreign to most of them. A few of them already had a couple of social accounts they were using, but they were not hitting their target markets yet or had yet to figure out how to monetize their posts.

Getting a business off the ground is tough enough, learning how to market your product/service is critical so don’t skip this step. I understand it might feel like you just hit the tsunami of efforts. I am here to tell you how to start. Think of this is the beginning of Marketing Online 101.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

  1. Know how your product/service should appeal to your customer. After all the customer keeps your business in business.
    • Example: 5 Star Fruits and Vegetables
      • Our customers love the look of multicolored fruits and vegetables
      • They like to smell the fresh produce
      • They love freshness
  2. Are you a B2B (Business-to-Business) or B2C (Business-to-Consumer) or a combination of both? Marketing is different for each type.
    • Example: 5 Star Fruits and Vegetables
      • Is both B2C and B2B
      • B2C at the local farmers markets and helping distribute CSA orders for smaller farmers
      • B2B is about 60% of the business – local grocery stores, restaurants, catering firms
  3. Who is your customer? Based upon who your customer is…will depend on how you reach out to them.
  4. Now that you know who your customer is…what kinds of social media do they hang out on? This is where you want to hang out and start your promotions.
    • Example: 5 Star Fruits and Vegetables
      • Consumers probably hang out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest
      • Businesses probably hang out on the above 3 and any local forums that might be out there…you can target your ads on Facebook directly to the businesses.
      • Follow your customers, hope they follow you back
      • Keep your social media to the 80/20 rule – 80% about things associated with your business and 20% about your sales or events. The 80/20 rule applies more for consumers than business. Most businesses want simple straight forward marketing.
        • Example for consumers – 80%: Free classes on how to prepare a good sourdough starter and bread. You will take home your starter, we will supply a starter for you to make a sourdough loaf of bread to take home. Spaces are limited to 10 due to our kitchen size. Click here to sign up. Or this could be at one of the participating stores they sell produce to.
        • Example for consumers – 80%: New recipes for eggplant – click here for 5 recipes to bring this undervalued vegetable to your table. (make the 5 recipes all items that can be found at one onf the local markets)
        • Example for consumers – 20%: Big sales on the last of the raspberries this weekend at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market – 20% off if you buy 2 pints or more.
        • Example for business: This next week we are bringing in our first shipment of the spring favorites. Let us know how many shipments you want of our locally grown organic strawberries. Always a favorite.
  5. What are your business colors? These should be colors that might appeal to a customer not per-se colors that appeal to you. Run your color choices by someone that will give you real feedback.
    • Example: 5 Star Fruits and Vegetables
      • Their colors are white and blue and accents with a nice tan color.
      • These two colors are fairly neutral and work well with the produce colors that change seasonally.

Ok now that we have some idea where your business is going…sit back with a nice cup of coffee and be proud…you have started your online marketing  plan. Yep there is a lot more to do but baby steps are usually good in this area of the being your own boss. If you try to take it on in more than one step…it will be overwhelming.

 

Innovating Marketing

Guest blog post by one of my former students – Bruce Harper – posted with permission

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Marketing is an ever-changing and volatile arena. An amazing product or service can go down in flames without the right marketing team behind it. In decades past, a good label, the right name, a product that is needed, or maybe an actor attached to your brand might have been enough to meet sales goals. Innovation that takes place in the research and development lab can really give your company and product the edge in competition. Having an amazing team that can develop something that has a demand, a need, in the consumer eye is crucial for making a mark in your industry. That being said, it is also imperative that your marketing and innovation teams work together so closely that they form an innovation and marketing culture together that is mutually beneficial. Charles Gaudet, “The Entrepreneur’s Marketing Champion”, addressed this in Forbes:

“Every business needs innovation, just as much as it requires marketing. The goal of innovation in business is to give customers the best possible products, services and experiences – which makes marketing a much simpler task.”1

Your marketing team gathers and distributes information to your consumer. Your consumers’ responses  are relayed to the innovation team to assist them in the discovery of new evolutions that solve new problems. These elements need to work together seamlessly in order to progress and profit.

A commercial that grips you, holds your attention because it is funny, provocative, or exhilarating: What does it tell you? This generation of consumer has the most information at its fingertips than any before, and they won’t buy your product without it first undergoing meticulous scrutiny.

In a marketing oriented Harvard Business Review, Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at General Electric said:

“The really good innovations – the ones that change the world – need to be explained before they’re accepted.”2

Marketing has had to undergo extreme transformations recently to adapt to the demands of technology and consumers. At General Electric, they understand that most of the battle takes place when you explain your product or service to the consumer. Flashy marketing doesn’t cut it anymore. Products that are lined up by the hierarchy of brand names, prices that must imply quality (yet because of the information readily available via the Internet, are often ignored in favor of purchasing the lower tier product, not only to save money, but because the differences in the products are negligible if not identical), all of these things require substantive marketing, not glitz and glam.

At other times, younger generations are more focused on nutrition and tend to avoid more processed foods. Example: macaroni and cheese, offered by Kraft at one dollar per box, or organic macaroni and cheese, offered by the same price. When the ingredient list is short and can all be pronounced, it’s a good sign.

Marketing and innovation are constantly changing by nature. Keeping a clear eye, while managing a successful product line, is all about blending these elements together in respect to the consumer. Knowing your consumer’s needs and adapting to them with your marketing campaign, as well as your product itself is the key to success.

Keywords: #innovativemarketing #marketing #innovation

1- http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2014/01/22/innovation-vs-marketing-balancing-the-two-key-elements-of-business-success/2/

2 – https://hbr.org/2014/07/dont-sell-a-product-sell-a-whole-new-way-of-thinking/

Inspiration Everywhere

I love this article by Fast Company – 4 Ways to Find Inspiration Everywhere.  I think I

By TZA on Flickr - Creative Commons Lic.

enjoyed it because I have lived much of their “4 ways” and I wanted to write my notes about the topic.

1. Challenge Your Preconceived Notions

This maybe the hardest habit to break. It is easy to fall back on “what we are doing is working, so why change.” Change is good for you and your organization. Companies that embrace change move forward faster. I can think of a couple of companies in the Metro Detroit area that embrace change daily. It is part of their company DNA – Valassis Communications & Menlo Innovations. Both companies live-eat-breathe concepts that kick preconceived notions in the butt. Valassis has a mantra of “what you did yesterday was great – what are you going to do today to improve upon it.” They celebrate even when there is a failure in a project – because they learn and improve from failure. Menlo has a huge sign on their wall – “Make Mistakes Faster.” Probably my favorite sign in the whole world. Menlo also embraces change from the daily rat race of other industry businesses. You have to visit them to see it in action.

I liked one of the comments on the article from  Fast Company – If you’re always afraid to try new things because they might not work, you’re going to have a tough time cultivating your more creative side!  I could not have said it better myself!

 2. Plan Creative Stoking Sessions

I have a lot of creative friends. If I were to poll most of them I think I would find that their responses agree with the article. They don’t make enough creative time. Being creative is not a button you can push on the back of your head to turn it on. It doesn’t always blurt out of your brain. I really think that non-creatives believe we just turn on the creative side and “blop” something wonderful out. I guess I always think of it like a cat – the cat is usually not spontaneously purring, although some cats do that sometimes, for the sake of argument here…let’s say they don’t. Then a human strokes (stokes a response) the cat, and the next thing you know the cat is purring.

Creative sessions do not need to be rigid – the less rigid the better. I like to doodle zentangles – they are not rigid and they make my brain think a little differently.

3. Change up Routine Regularly

This is critical – if you don’t change your routine you are destined to get stuck! A routine is a routine. Start looking at ways you can flip your day

4. Find What Creates Mind Space for You

When I worked at Ford, most of my job was very analytical. Often though, they (bosses, coworkers) would come to me and ask me to do something creative – make a logo, create a website, etc. I had ways I could turn my brain into something more creative, but it took some stoking. I would watch Cirque du Soleil videos on YouTube or go to sites with lots of bright colors – anything to change the brain from analytical to creative.

I have one more to add to the list that was not on the original article.

5. Move Around

There is a reason why so many creatives use desks at which they can sit or stand. Some have even added a treadmill to their standing desks. Movement isn’t just for your overall body, but it is also very good at getting your brain in action. So get up and move, take a walk around your building, go outside and walk a block – anything to get those brain synapses working!

Keywords: #creativity, #inspiration, #creative session, #inspiration

Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

I teach “Principles of Marketing” at night at our local community college. I love teaching. analysis

The chapter that seems to cause the most problems every semester is the chapter that covers marketing research. The students always get stuck on what is qualitative vs. quantitative research.

So let’s make this simple.

Quantitative research implies that there is the ability to somehow “quantify” the results of a question.

This means you can use anything with a number as the response:

Quantitative research implies that there is the ability to somehow “quantify” the result of a question.

This means you can use anything with a number as the response:

    • Likert scale“On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being I don’t like it and 5 being I like it a lot – how do you rate the new flip top lid on our BBQ sauce”
    • Anything that can be measured (measurements, quantity, age, temperature, etc.) – “Please pour out the normal amount of our BBQ sauce you would use on your chicken breast after it has been cooked” (measure the sauce in ounces)
    • Yes/No questions (because they are finite and you can assign a number to it: Yes = 1, No = 0) “Would you buy the redesigned BBQ sauce with the squeezy bottle and flip top lid?

Qualitative research is “touchy feely,” more about “quality” or perceived quality. This type of research uses open ended questions that allow the respondents to answer openly without restrictions.

Questions such as:

  • “Are there other enhancements to our packaging of our BBQ sauce that you would like to see?”
  • “When you tasted the BBQ sauce sample A – what did you like/dislike about the taste of sample A?”
  • “Please taste the cooked BBQ chicken breast we cooked on a grill. Describe the texture and taste as a grilled BBQ sauce.”

If you have trouble remembering which is quantitative and which is qualitative, the quickest way to remember is that quantitative is about numbers and qualitative is about quality.

Keywords: #marketingresearch #research #qualitative #quantitative